Hey thanks for the info. I've got to address some of these issues at some point including a set of stairs that lead down into my basement which are getting long in the tooth as it were.
On Aug 21, 2008, at 9:07 PM, Dale Leavens wrote: > Check it out carefully, they were probably not poured as a single > piece. Usually there are expansion joints or partitions between > sections and it may even bee that the leading edge of each step is > sitting on the trailing edge of the step below. That is probably how > I would have poured them. > > Certainly you can lift and pack under. The trouble is usually > getting a suitable lift under the step. They tend to want to crack. > You can probably lift with bottle jacks by digging under and setting > a base chunk of plank under the jack and another under the slab so > the top of the jack doesn't just crumble the cement and the weight > of the slab doesn't just drive the jack into the mud below. > > You can lift it one side at a time and fit a bit of a crib under the > corners corner by corner until it is high enough to allow your raise > as well as enough room to work the sand under it with a plank or > screed or what ever then lower it removing the cribbing and > ultimately packing sand into the space left by the cribs. > > You could get someone with a back hoe to just tip it up on one edge > and brace it there while you raise the sand then drop it back. It > can be tough work but so is smashing it up, finding a way to haul it > away then forming and pouring a new slab. I have done both and > dislike both about equally. > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
